Stars of Magic Past: Brooks Thompson
Brooks Thompson was selected in the 1st round (27th Overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. Thompson was a 6’4 Guard who was a supposed sharpshooter (hmm…sounds familiar). Thompson played two years at Texas A&M before transferring to Oklahoma State. He was named 2nd Team All Southwest Conference as a Sophomore at A&M before transferring. He had to sit out his first year as an Oklahoma State Cowboy due to the NCAA’s transfer rules. He struggled early on in his redshirt junior season but seemed to get the hang of it about halfway through the season. Thompson played his high school ball at Littleton High in Littleton, Colorado, where his team was 24-0 and won the 4A State Title in 1989. Thompson was also named Colorado Player of the Year in ’89.
Thompson appeared in 38 games for the Magic during his rookie reason. He averaged just 3.1 points per game, scoring in double figures just three times. He also chipped in 3.1 assists per game and .6 rebounds per game while playing 6.1 minutes per game.
Thompson did have one offensive explosion during his rookie year. He lit up the Lakers in Los Angeles on April 2, 1995. He scored 20 points on seven of 12 shooting with four three-pointers made on six attempts. He also fouled out in the game. Thompson appeared in three playoff games for the Magic, one in the first round against Boston and two in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, including a clinching a blowout game 7 win.
In Thompson’s second season, he played in five less games but upped his scoring average to 4.2 PPG. He also upped his field goal percentage from .395 to a career-high .466. Thompson topped his three 20-point games in previous season with four in the 1995-96 season. He has another explosion going off for 21 points in 21 minutes in a win over Detroit on March 19, 1996. He also appeared in five playoff games, one in the first round, one in the second and three in the Eastern Conference Finals when they were swept by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. He had 17 points on seven of 10 shooting in their game 4 blowout loss.
After Shaq bolted for Los Angeles following the 1995-96 season, Thompson was traded by the Magic to the Utah Jazzalong with Kenny Gattison and a 1st round pick (which turned out to be Andre Kirilenko) for Shaq’s replacement, Felton Spencer. He wound up playing just two games in Utah the next season before being waived and signing with Denver. He played in a career high 67 games even starting six. He averaged 6.6 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.4 RPG. He played for Denver where he also started six of the 65 games he played in. He averaged a career-high 6.8 PPG, 2 .8 APG, and 1.5 RPG. That was the last time he would see significant action. During the 1997-98 season, he had brief stints with both Phoenix and New York, finishing the year with the Knicks. He averaged just 2 PPG.
Thompson finished his career playing in a total of 168 NBA games, averaging 4.5 PPG, 1.7 APG, and .9 RPG in 10.2 minutes per game. He has a career field goal percentage of .409 and shot .376 from downtown.
Thompson decided to play overseas in 1997. He was playing for Iraklis in the Greek league and was the team’s best player. He accused his coach, Vaggelis Alexandris of giving a game away to AEK Athens. After taking a 17 point lead, Thompson was held out of almost the entire second half even though he was team’s leading scorer. This was Thompson’s last game in Greece.
Thompson got a job as an undergraduate assistant coach at his alma mater – Oklahoma State. After a year there, Metro Christian Academy, a private K-12 school in Tennessee named Thompson Head Coach. He stayed just one season before getting another assistant job at Southeastern Louisiana University. A year later, he returned to Oklahoma State for his second stint as an assistant under the famed Eddie Sutton. He was the director of basketball operations and helped the Cowboys make the NCAA tournament. After a year, he was once again named a Head Coach, this time at Yavapai Community College in Arizona. He lead the Roughriders to a 55-14 record from 2002-04. He won two NJCAA Region 1 Coach of the Year honors. Yavapai won back to back Arizona Community College Athletic Conference titles. Yavapai previously had never won a title. He also won two Region I Tournament Championships. Then, Thompson became an assistant coach at Arizona State. He coached former Pac-10 Player of the Year, Ike Diogu.
After spending two years at Arizona State with the Sun-Devils, Thompson was offered the position of Head Coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Thompson, being from Dallas, jumped at the chance to coach near his hometown. He has been at UTSA for three years and the team has improved their record in each season. The Roadrunners were just 7-22, including a 3-13 conference record in Thompson’s first year. They were 13-17 (7-9) in year two and then 17-12(8-8) last year. That’s an incredible turnaround. Last year, in the SLC Tournament, the Roadrunners defeated Sam Houston State and Nicholls and made their first ever appearance in a championship game earning a final record of 19-13.
Thompson will be entering his fourth season as Head Coach this fall and looks to be a coach on the rise. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Thompson at a bigger program in the future because of the incredible job he’s done at UTSA thus far.
Thompson, 39, is married and he and his wife, Michelle have three children, all daughters, named Ryan Michelle, Brooke and Addison.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger.Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily. .)